The Night Of - Part 4: The Art of War

Previously on The Night Of, “A Dark Crate”

The Night Of – Part 4: The Art of War | Starring: Riz Ahmed, John Turturro, Ariya Ghahramani, Poorna Jagannathan, Bill Camp, Amara Karan

Not even a burning bed, a sliced arm, or having his commissary card used by a mooch is enough to make Nasir accept Freddie’s help. Instead, he learns the art of war in prison from a new inmate, who suspiciously imparts wisdom on how to avoid conflict, possible prison weapons, and how not to owe anyone anything in prison. All the time you’re wondering what Naz will owe this guy when the time comes.

At home, Nasir’s mother sinks into depression amid the constant presence of the media outside their home. Not even Naz’s brother Hasan (Syam M. Lafi) is safe as he’s asked to leave school after fighting back against bullies.

Perhaps influenced by new clients who are most definitely guilty and full of shit, or maybe he laments the one that got away, Stone continues to look into Andrea’s death and supplies Chandra Kapoor (Karan) with ill-gotten records of Andrea’s stints in rehab.

Nasir does accept Freddie’s help by wearing the prison greens he provided (over the orange jumpsuit), though this does nothing to secure Nasir’s release at his bail hearing. Still, it’s a step towards a possible alliance/friendship.

Allison Crowe (Glenn Headly) shows her true colors when she immediately negotiations a plea agreement on Nasir’s behalf. He’ll get 15 years if he pleads guilty in open court. The prosecution is eager to make a deal due to the high cost of court cases, plus the anti-Muslim violence that has risen in the wake of Naz’s arrest. Crowe advises his parents to take the deal, and even sends her junior associate, Chandra, to convince Naz to do the right thing. Chandra goes with her conscience, and advises Nasir not to take the deal if he’s innocent. When he does exactly that, Crowe quits the case and passes it off to Chandra, and also tells the Khans they’ll now have to pay for their services.

Naz eventually asks Freddie the question we’ve been asking since “A Dark Crate”: Why him?

Freddie has all the comforts of home in prison. He has everything except someone who is intellectually stimulating. While most men in prison are reading The Art of War and The Other Side of Midnight (the first for obvious reasons; the latter being a fictional account of using what you have to obtain power), Freddie tells Nasir he should read Jack London’s Call of Wild, but he’s already read it. Whether this is Freddie’s true motive is unknown, but Naz still has to ask for the help before Freddie will protect him.

When Nasir’s new prison friend attacks him with hot water mixed with baby oil and later smirks about it, it’s finally enough to send Nasir into Freddie’s care. Between that and Chandra/Stone working on Nasir’s behalf on the outside, it finally feels like Nasir’s cause might not be so lost after all.